What do I write to you?

Let’s talk about what should we talk about today.

I write to you today about my utter dilemma about what to write about. Good heavens, I am sorry, that’s quite the beginning to the post; just throwing you in the deep end, no easing, no warning, nothing. Please allow me to explain as I walk you through my predicament.

Perhaps, after months of nothing, since I am suddenly showing up here now (I have been somewhat around on my Instagram, so do follow me there if you’d like to not be surprised by my sudden and erratic posting:@musingsofawhimsicalsoul) I should talk about what i was up to in these past few months. Since  I last posted in November, that would be exams in December, a very gruelling college schedule January onwards, a concussion(from a kick in the head, so quite the story), all the pre-internship things and my first ever job interview(with Google!) in February, turning 21 in Corbett National Park on a family vacation in March to finally today, April 1st, my last day of (now, online) classes, which gives me the time to write to you.

Me with my surprise birthday balloons on March 10, it is so crazy how much things have changed in such little time??

Or maybe, I can’t post anything without addressing the current climate and situation that we all are dealing with. The COVID-19 pandemic, its impact on our lives, the lives we have already lost, the brave souls in essential services fighting to make our lives easier on the frontlines and just how much it infuriates me to see people not taking this seriously. Should I be cautioning you and spreading awareness about flattening the curve? Should I talk numbers and how anxious they make me as we look at the rising numbers every day from the midst of a 21-day lockdown? Should I talk about the fact that even as I say all this, I am feeling so incredibly guilty for how comfortable I am to be in my home with my family and living life with not much of a hindrance? Should I be asking you to think of the less fortunate, the ones who are affected the most? Should I ask you to donate, if you can, to food banks or to government funds, to aid small businesses, to think of the people in your employ or the ones you take rent from?

The coronavirus curve we need to flatten, found on the CDC website.

Should I acknowledge my privilege in being able to sit down and write all this down for you? Or, should I talk about how scared I am of the uncertainty regarding our future, where the world we would be after this is over? I am scared of the economy I would be inheriting. How, as someone who is supposed to find a job in the upcoming year and has no idea what will happen with my internship the economic ruination this will bring terrifies me. Or perhaps, my hope that we all are kinder and value each other and just appreciate the little things much more?

Simply put, should I be talking about my fears for our present or the future? Or mundane things like how I am going to pass time now that my college is over? Perhaps, I should be distracting you from all this uncertainty and negativity, bring you my regular scheduled(Yes, I see the irony here.) content. Maybe you’ve had enough of all the negativity and just want to escape. So today, after 4 months of nothing, in the middle of a global pandemic, I ask you, What do I write to you?

THIS POST’S QUESTION: This is a unique post,the entire post itself is a question,so please,tell me,What content do you want to see from me? Comment below with what you think about it,I’d love to hear from you!

Millennial or Gen Z?: The Turn Of Century Dilemma.

Let’s talk about some actual, very real concerns today.

Hello readers, welcome. Today I have a very pressing concern to discuss with you. This dilemma affects millions, maybe even a billion(that is 1/7th of all of us!) people worldwide yet, not one person realises the gravity of the situation.

Let me start by telling you a little something about myself. I am 19 years old. If your math is any good, you can figure out that this makes my year of birth 1999, the last year of the previous century, the one right before we stepped into the technological haven that is the 21st century.

Now, why is that information relevant, you ask? It is relevant because the issue we have to talk about today deals with one of the many gifts that my year of birth gave me. With the possible chance of being one of the last people of the previous century alive comes the existential dilemma: Am I Millennial or am I Gen Z?

From libertywingspan.com

This labelling of generations started with the Baby Boomers, born roughly between the 40s and the 60s. Then came Gen X born between the 60s and 80s. Then came the Millenials, born somewhere in the 80s and 90s. Then, came the current breed of humans, the Gen Z born 2000 onwards.

 

Generational Gears from awakeat2oclock.com

 

Now, as someone born in the middle of two labels, at the very cusp of two differing demographic conformations, am I Millennial or Gen Z? Should I feel attacked when the media criticizes the advent of avocado toast or challenges like the Tide Pod Challenge? Should I feel the urge to dab at every success or should I throw about high fives? Should I call Britney Spears the greatest artist of my generation or is it Shawn Mendes for me? There are so many very important questions but no one who’s giving the answers!

Now, before you go blaming me for only complaining I’ll present my defence. Since no one was giving the answers I tried to find them myself. I did what came to mind first. I decided to read up some posts on Millennial and Gen Z nostalgia(Okay, to be fair, Gen Z is hardly nostalgic yet. I’ll give you that. But you get my point.) I related to some of both and was entirely clueless about some aspects. I did not grow up on smartphones, though the basic cell phone was around post my toddlerhood. But, I also did not really marvel at computers, they were around and I saw them develop further. I also didn’t understand half the things mentioned in either. Why are fidget spinners such a big deal and what is a squeeze water snake?

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Now more confused than when I started, I decided to use the sharpest arrow in my quiver full of answers; I decided to take an online quiz.  I decided to take 3 Millennial or Gen Z quizzes so we would have 1 definite winner. The results were:

Quiz A: Millennial for life!

Quiz B: Gen Z for the win!

Quiz C: You’re both Millennial and Gen Z and you have the best of both worlds!

The best of both worlds? You were supposed to solve it,once and for all! Why are you telling me stuff  I already know,Quiz C? The whole point of quizzes is to find something new and important about yourself like what kind of bread you are or your Hogwarts House. After Quiz C, I swore off of quizzes and proclaimed them useless, until that night when I needed to know what Dessert defined me. (It’s Tiramisu.)

Now deeper into the identity crisis chasm with no ropes pulling me out, I decided to turn to the good ole problem-solving method that is; thinking. I decided to give this deep thought. Who do I identify with? Who am I? (I am sad to report no Hogwarts letters or people whisking me away to a different fantasy world dropped by during all this thinking. It was disappointing as I was really hoping my quest to find my generational identity would lead me away from this mundane, boring life.)

Who am I if my childhood was when Disney was in its prime and cartoons were good? Who am I if my childhood had flip phones and Blackberry handsets? Who am I if I *whispers*  like avocado and think fidget spinners are amusing? Who am I if I don’t understand Musical.ly yet also feel like Facebook is becoming redundant by the day? Who am I? 

 

Dramatic necessary existential crisis picture from lovethispic.com

 

Lastly, with no answer, I turn to my last choice and hope. I put the pen to paper (Or, my fingers to a keyboard) and present my problem to you, looking for an answer from you the reader and the whole wide Internet because the Internet is never wrong.

So, I present you with this post’s question.

THIS POST’S QUESTION: Am I Millennial or am I Gen Z? Comment below with what you think about it,I’d love to hear from you!